Buzz Canuck

What a Motrin Mom Mess - Could It Have Been Avoided?

By now, many of you will have heard of THE social media flameout of 2008 "Motrin Moms". An initial tribe of Twitter moms initially flexed their anger and many of the social media pundits have jumped on the pile, chimed in and suggested that Motrin should have known better and that all this could have been avoided. I'm not as sure.

The summary version is Motrin produced an ad about baby wearing carriers and the pain they may cause and the opportunity for Motrin to provide relief. Whether it was the smart-alecky tone of voice of the spot or the misguided insight that baby carriers might be the issue, the ad caught a group of well-connected women very raw and they have now shouted back in the thousands. Witness comments here: 

Unlike previous social media infernos, Motrin neither lied (Sony), deceived about their identity (Wal-Mart), endangered/inconvenienced a city (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) or provided dubious insider tips (Whole Foods). It was simply an ad. As ads go, it was more intriguing than most...perhaps with the same ad executed poorly, we might have never noticed it.

Furthermore, Motrin - a division of J&J, actually had an ad with interesting insight, it was colourfully and creatively executed, it was trying to target an audience that was influential to its business and one can assume had noble intent for creating a conversation and dialogue with that audience. Doesn't sound like bad credentials? Most creative we see on TV doesn't come close to having these merits.

So they messed up and executed poorly and yes, perhaps they didn't show it to enough people beforehand and maybe they would have been better served by engaging a community of thousands of women to evaluate the ad in advance and come to their defence if required. All good points some self-servingly raised by the social media -vested.

But to use Allen Iversen's repeated tirade "we're talking about an ad, I mean we're talking about an ad. This is what I'm talking about an ad." They didn't dump oil in the oceans, insider trade or hired underage workers overseas. They produced an ad, that resonated poorly. 

Some people in social media, particularly those on Twitter are championing this as the power of the human voice and are pointing to social media's defining moment of influence. They may be right but this is not a corporate-sized Obama. This is the type of change we don't need - nobody wins - moms are offended, Motrin takes it on the chin and other companies who were fence sitting now avoid social media like the plague.

If companies can't participate in this medium, then who is going to pay the freight. Are you going to pay for social media content? Didn't think so.

Let's be clear -the ad was wrong, Motrin is now doing the right thing, apologizing and perhaps regrettably somebody will take the fall. Potentially they can generate good debate and make something out of a clear PR disaster. But please don't anybody celebrate this. Don't anybody gloat over Motrin's mistake - this one was not as avoidable as the previous social media debacles. 

This is bad for the progress of marketing to become more open. This is bad for open source, web 2.0 developments in business and this is bad for social media in the long run. Motrin - I feel your pain.

Olympic-Sized Clout - Canada Lags

New York Times has developed an interesting interactive global map of the last 100 years of Olympic medal wins.

When mapped globally, it's interesting to see just how trivial Canada is on a world stage. As much as politically we get invited to the G7 summits and in U.N. and other diplomatic functions and we get trumpeted as having a great multicultural framework that other countries should imitate, the question arises - does Canada really matter?

Don Tapscott puts forward a linked argument that Olympic medals is a function of economic importance  and growth in the world. It's a compelling thesis when you see the medal gains of China and South Korea.
If so, then heaven help Canada's economy then as its current medal count for Beijing stands at...ahem...0 (for perspective, Togo and Tajikistan current sit at 1 medal each).  There's likely another post in here and how Canada does a poor job of recognizing its best and creating centres of excellence for business, sports and culture. But in the mean time, have a gander at the differential in medal clout from 1992 to 2004 (visualized above).

Big Agencies & Digital Life: Something Runs Afoul

Having spent the majority of my life client side, I'm likely not an aficianado on big agency culture. What I have seen in more than a few marbled hallways is a troubling mix of fiefdoms, ego  challenges, a shallow understanding of what makes them look good to a client and an all-too-familiar understanding
of what makes them look good to their industry peers.

In the same breath, some of the more brilliant  and genuinely interesting and passionate people in the communications industry are floating, or more likely ranting, at different levels within agency land.

Recently, I have seen at least 4 digiterati who I like and respect and by all accounts, are exceptionally good at what they do, leave big agencies in Toronto.  Although all have taken the high road and have either been quiet or complementary of their former firms - I find it more than coincidence these gaping online talent holes exist at the exact same time the Critical Mass, Rare Methods, Blast Radius and Organics of the world thrive.   

What's wrong here?:
Do big agencies not understand digital culture?
Are broadcast creative teams still TV first, fight for the crumbs everybody else?
Have clients given up on big agencies ability to delivery solid digital work?
Is the efficiency required by big agency models reducing "outside the box" online innovation?
Are older presidents/CEOs not familiar or comfortable enough with the fast-moving digital worlds to affect real change?   
Are media dinosaurs reinforcing a "paint by numbers' approach to digital campaigns?
Does it come down to big agencies can be good at only one thing and one thing only, usually broadcast creative?
Is "integration" paradoxically better executed across agencies then within an agency (I would wager in that 80% of firms, digital staff don't sit close to their traditional peers?
Is online being seen as strictly a media tactic vs. a true business enabler?
Is Canadian branch plant mentality to online communications handcuffing and frustrating brilliant digital creative?

Hmmmm. all I know is something smells fishy here. Any thoughts from the e-rafters?

Mary Lou Retton - Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

I'm glad I'm not the only person that noticed this in Toronto --at first I thought I was in a very rustic variety store seeing point-of-sale dating back from 1985 but then I noticed that saccharine sweet smile on bus shelters around town.

What gives? Is this the what was cool 25 years ago is bound to comeback " axiom gone horribly wrong?

This from AdFreak

"Sad progression: glorious Wheaties box (1984) to badly Photoshopped Wrigley’s Excel gum ad (2007). People are reporting sightings of these Excel posters in Canada (Excel is apparently the Canadian version of Eclipse), and they’re as baffled as we are. Did Mary Lou sign off on this crap? Related: an ad from the ’90s with Mary Lou touting Revco pharmacies."

Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Final Analysis

Say what you want about the frenzied pitch of security-sensitive US and the turmoil caused in Boston by Aqua Teen Hunger Force (sure this buzz campaign was dumb --if they did it on April 12, 2000 - maybe not so much), but here's the final objective marketing analysis...

1) It was ethically dubious - beyond the legal issues - it contravened each piece of WOMMA's Ethical ROI  code- it did not disclose relationship - who it was speaking for, it did not disclose opinion - what they believed and one could argue forceably (in Boston anyway) it did not disclose identity - what the thing was - they could have subtly done this in a way that would have steered clear of the debacle it became. Slimy.

2) it cost a good guy his job - the GM of the Cartoon Network has stepped down /been forced out because of this. The poor guy Jim Sample might not have even been involved in the decision and based on appearances only, he seemed to be a stand up executive - 13 years running a successful cable TV shop implies a level of competance and likability in entertainment land. Shame.

3)  it  did not make media sense - some contrarians are saying now that the press coverage even with the $2 million penalty Turner Broadcasting served up easily surpasses the value represented by Super Bowl ads. First of all, that's the marketing equivalent of saying "well at least I'm cleaner than the town drunk" and secondly, you do have to ascribe some relative value of the quality and message of the coverage (two guys go to jail, most of Boston hates you, people's first reaction who thought this thing up, your leader falls on the sword).  Misguided.

...leading finally to my last point

4) it did not move the needle - the Nielsen ratings show that the first Aqua Teen episode after this national headline grabber jumped a mere 6,000 viewers from 380k to 386k - easily within a research margin of error - with all the confusion and turmoil created, the inconvenience to Boston (why just them I have no idea - the campaign ran in 10 cities), the damage to any kind of non-traditional marketing vehicle in the future, the likelihood of some type of government regulation governing marketing practices and the $2 million+ investment - you would have expected a much better gawk factor. Flushing dollars away.

I hate to rant on firms that take risks and try to be remarkable so I'll hold short of completely spitting on Aqua Teen's grave (unfortunately, I'm sure there are 1000s of equally-incompetent conservative business decision makers saying "I told you so right now") - we do have to get our heads on straight here.

The Takeaway:
- Apply some common sense - take a day or two to think about stuff after you've developed it - sober second thought is like the Sunday morning after a Saturday night bender - it may hurt and be associated with a dulling headache but it helps
- Make sure whatever you do has some remote connection to increasing the value of the brand you're representing - we're rainmakers not playmakers - we're in business to make business - this certainly did not have that imperative (I have the same issue with the current Bride Gone Mad videos now too)
- Build a connection with your viewers that will last for more than this 15 minutes - ask the question, what's going to get somebody to watch for a full season and also tell others      

Air Canada's Website Exposed Again on Seth Godin's Blog

For an airline that appears to be goofing up all over the place online, Seth Godin certainly must be using them a lot (see Seth's previous post on Air Canada's website)

In Seth's Blog today, he profiles the attached Air Canada Tango price listing - I've seen this very same chart before....it is confusing but man, is that Tango Plus price sharp at $106.

The Molson-ifcation of Creemore

I wouldn't call my self a beer snob but having worked in the premium beer category  for more than a few years, I feel like I can appreciate a finely crafted stout, ale or lager. 

That's why I love Creemore, it might have not been Ontario's first craft-brewed beer but it's certainly our most loved. There is so much good word of mouth about this brand - it has great product credentials, it's from a quaint brewery location in rural Ontario and it's had for years an inside industry rumour about it,  real or imagined, that all new bars couldn't order it because their small plant was at capacity and their owners refused to compormise quality by expanding the brewery.

One of Canada's beer behemoths Molson purchased Creemore over a year ago and anaylsts were puzzled about how it fit into the rest of a struggling fairly mainstream portfolio.  Having acquired it over a year ago and not doing anything to ruffle any Creemore loyalists, I thought Molson was actaully succeeding in building a micro beer reputation where it had failed in the past.

After listening to their last radio ad, I'm now  starting to doubt. Unfortunately I can't find the ad online but it was promoting Creemore in Cans. Never mind, a great glass bottle brand is risking product credentials by being put in cans, the ad pretty much slapped the face of 20 years of very strong if not sexy product communications by some wisecrack jumping in and telling the narrator to get to the point. I thought I was having an out of body experience, surely they didn't just piss on its finest brewed asset publicly.

.. but lo and behold, some fellow members of my "good beer" posse also heard the ad and were equally horrified.

So is this the beginning of the end for Creemore or just a case of one bad ad? I guess we'll wait and see...given the speed at whcih negative word of mout travels, we might not have to wait too long.

Federal Laziness - Word of Mouth Hits a Dead End

One final word of mouth comment about our our recent federal election campaign In Canada before we  move onto other higher brow debates ie. Gretzky vs. Lemieux, Myers vs. Carrey, Lightfoot vs. Young. 

Reg Alcock (pictured above) is this campaigns' winner of "best word of mouth blunder in a 6 week campaign". With a high profile position as the Head of the Treasury Board and a riding that he won handily less than 2 years ago by 6,500 seats how did poor old Reg lose by 110 seats to a political neophyte - see article from the Winnipeg Sun for the gory details).

Sure, incumbent Liberal party arrogance was pivotal in losing seats across the county but two much more vulnerable ridings adjacent to Reg's still pulled through. The real story and tragedy (or perhaps insanity) is that Mr. Alcock spent exactly 3 days campaigning in his own riding. Just enough effort  for 2 kindergarten class photo-ops, 1 Kiwanis bakeoff and 1 glad-handing past Portage and Main.

It's comforting to know that even in this mass advertised, three party, "hero leader" world, local ties and commitment still matters for something. Lyndon Johnson used to say a "handshake was worth about 250 votes". If only Reg Alcock had heeded this insight.